Teach Me To Love
by am4muzik
Summary: Cecilia's just moved down to smalltown Kansas in hopes of starting over. Her past is buried behind her, and she's looking forward to new adventures as a ninth grade English teacher. Join her as she comes upon bumps in the road and the shock of her life. Maybe someone here can teach Cece what it means to surrender yourself to love.
1. A New Start

"Right this way, Miss Jacobs."

"Please," I smiled, "call me Cecilia. Cece for short."

The school secretary led me down the hallway and I took my own sweet time, taking in all of the bright decorations, paintings, and names adorning the walls.

"Is it common for the teachers to do this?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, very," Darla answered proudly. She was an older woman, her smile bright enough to light up the darkest of moods. She had already taken on a motherly role towards me. According to Darla, "You're as young as my youngest, so I might as well treat you as my own". It was nice to have someone looking out for me already.

"Our teachers like to make the kids feel comfortable, so each grade's hallway has the students' names up," she continued. "We're like a giant family."

I think I'm gonna like it here.

"And here we are, Cecilia. Room 511."

"Thank you so much, Darla."

"Sure, sweetheart. Page down to the office if you need me. Seventeen-"

"-hundred star," I finished with a grin.

"Well look at you!" Darla laughed. "You're a pro already!"

Darla returned down the hallway and I let out a whistle as I stepped into my new classroom. The walls were bare, a fairly unpleasant shade of cream. Parts of the corners had paint chipped off and the floor had multiple scratches etched into it, no doubt from desks moving on it over the years. I won't even begin to mention the state the desks were in.

And the dinosaur of a computer on my desk. Yeesh.

"Well you're going to take some fixing up," I muttered under my breath. "But no worries. If I could fix my new apartment, we shouldn't have a problem."

"Knock knock."

I turned at the sound of a male voice and smiled at my visitor, waving my hand to usher him in. "Hi, I'm Cecilia, the new 9th grade English teacher," I introduced myself, sticking my hand out to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Cecilia," he smiled warmly, taking my hand in his. "I'm Jason. I teach math right-" he paused and pointed down "-below here. Heard we had a newbie and figured I'd come say hello."

"Well hello then," I grinned. "Sorry, uh, I'm a bit of a dork," I giggled, pushing my hair out of my face.

"It's quite charming, actually," he smiled, making my cheeks heat up.

"Already pulling out your moves, Jason?"

A deep chuckle echoed through the room and I turned to meet its creator. "Hi there! I'm Cecilia."

"Hi Cecilia, I'm Kendall," he smiled. "I live right across the hall. You'll have to excuse Jason here," he indicated my new colleague and slung an arm over his shoulder, "he's quite lonely."

"Ken," Jason snapped, eliciting a laugh from the blonde.

"Just teasing, just teasing. So Miss Cecilia, you teach English, huh?"

"I assume so, that's why she's the new _English_ teacher," Jason deadpanned.

"Hey now, no need for wisecracks," Kendall smirked, elbowing Jason.

"Smart-aleck comments aside, yes I am," I laughed. "And I clearly have a lot of work to do over the next week." I glanced around the room, frowning at its state before a smile returned to my face.

Ok, so I'm one of those "the-world-can't-get-me-down" kind of people. I admit it. But hey, it helps, right?

"We'll let you get settled in, Cecilia," Jason nodded. "Give me a holler if you need anything."

"Will do. Thank you!"

"Same for me. Remember, right across the hall," Kendall flashed me a smile before joining Jason as he walked out.

"Dude, you totally like her!" Kendall yelled a bit too loudly as they exited.

"I do _not_!"

"_OH CECILIA MY LOVE I'M RIGHT DOWNSTAIRS I'LL CLIMB THE VINE UP TO YOUR WINDO-!"_

"_YOU SHUT UP MR. RIGHT ACROSS THE HALL!"_

"Hey that's not cool."

I stepped out of the doorway to catch the entertainment, giggling at their childlike banter.

Kendall and Jason whipped around, faces red, and I quickly retreated into 511, hurrying off to start redecorating.

* * *

"So tell me all about the first day, Cece!"

My laptop was perched on my coffee table in front of me, Skype open and my best friend Maria's face on screen.

"Well I got my room pretty much all set up. The only thing left to do is the walls cause they're _super_ crappy. I have to paint them tomorrow and then I'm hoping to have the posters up by Wednesday."

"That's so great," she grinned at me. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks, Ri," I smiled back. "Really, I can't thank you enough for always giving me support."

"There since fifth grade!" she yelled proudly, doing an elaborate kick and falling off the couch.

"Ohmygod Maria, are you okay?" I jumped off my own couch and peered into the screen, trying to find her.

"I'm good, I'm good." Her thumbs up popped up on the screen a second before she did, still smiling. "See?"

"You scare me sometimes, you nut."

"It's one of the many reasons you love me," Maria proclaimed dramatically. "I make your life interesting."

"That you do," I chuckled.

"So tell me more."

"Like what?" I asked, picking up my chopsticks and taking another bite of Lo Mein.

"About the guy scene. Duh!"

"Oh right," I giggled, placing the takeout box down on the table. "I only met two today. Jason and Kendall."

"Mmhm and?"

"Well they're both _very _cute. Jason's a brunette and Kendall's a blonde. They both seem very sweet, and I think they're best friends. Even if they're not, they're quite close, I can tell. I didn't really have much time to talk to them today. Oh and Kendall thinks Jason likes me. I picked that much up."

"Interesting...very interesting."

"Babe?"

"Donny, I'm in here."

"You should go, Ri. Go spend some time with Don."

"I will, he can wait a few." She turned away from me and yelled into the hallway. "Donny, come here!"

"Who are you talking to?" he yelled back.

"It's just Cece, stupid."

"Oh okay." Don, Maria's longtime boyfriend, stepped into the room and bent down so I could see him next to her. "Hey Cece."

"Hi Don!" I smiled and waved at him, and we made small talk about work and what was going on in life.

Soon, the two of them signed off and headed to bed, and I figured I should as well.

As I climbed into bed for the night, I couldn't help the small smile that adorned my face.

This felt like the right choice to make. This time, I wouldn't let anything break me. Life was just beginning, and I was ready to take whatever it threw at me with a smile.


	2. Living In The Here And Now

**frannyfry: Aw glad to hear you're liking it!**

**Psyche Griffin: I'm happy you're enjoying it :P**

**thesandbar: Girl, you're freakin' spot on with all...that XD But shhh quiet! Glad you're enjoying :***

**RandomWriter23: Eeeep ily thank you *insert monkey covering eyes emoji***

* * *

"Come on, come on," I growled under my breath, stretching farther up on my desk to hang up my Romeo and Juliet dialogue poster. At the moment, after hours of struggling to decorate the higher parts of the walls in my classroom, I was cursing my parents for both being tall and not giving me their genes. At my mere five foot three inches, I was considered tiny by basically everyone.

And man, it was not cool!

"Cecilia?"

I let out a shriek and flailed my arms as I fell backwards, closing my eyes in the vain hope of not, y'know, snapping my spine in half. Confused to feel the soft material of clothing at my fingertips instead of the floor, I opened my eyes and met with green ones.

"Kendall, are you alright?"

"Yeah," he coughed. "I think my ribcage broke your fall."

"I'm so sorry," I rushed out, hurrying to clamber off him and help him up. "Can I get you ice or anything?"

"No no, I'm fine," Kendall chuckled, stretching a bit. "You alright?"

"Yeah," I laughed nervously, squeezing his hand in thanks, before blushing and yanking my hand out of his. "I'm just gonna...get back to working."

"Well the reason I came in here, Calamity Jane," he teased me with a twinkle in his eyes, "was to tell you to take a break. Jason and I were gonna head out to lunch and we'd love for you to join us."

"That's very sweet of you two," I smiled. "I will definitely take you up on that offer. Let me just grab my jacket and wallet so I-"

"No need for that," Kendall stopped me with a gentle hand on my arm. "My treat."

"Oh Kendall, that's really nice but-"

"Please, Cecilia. I insist."

"Thank you so much." I smiled warmly at him as I pulled on my light jacket, slipping my phone into my back jeans pocket before heading towards the door. "Oh and Kendall?"

"Yeah?"

"Call me Cece," I grinned back at him as he pulled the door shut behind us.

"I'd rather call you mine," he said softly, head down as he spoke to the floor.

"What was that?" I asked, genuinely confused as to what I had heard.

"Oh nothing, sorry," he smiled at me. "C'mon, Jason's probably waiting."

* * *

We made our way to a small French café nearby and were seated quickly, making friendly small talk while we waited for our waiter's arrival. As we ordered drinks, I noted the slight accent in our waiter's speech and struck up a conversation in French, assuming it to be his native language.

Kendall and Jason sat there, mouths agape as I happily chatted, trying not to laugh at the looks on their faces. Antoine left us to take care of our drinks, and I turned back to the guys.

"What?" I giggled self-consciously.

"Y-You speak French," Jason stuttered with a slight cough. "You freakin' speak _French_!"

_It's a huge turn on for him_, Kendall mouthed, grinning at me.

"I lived in France for a couple years during high school," I shrugged with a shy smile. "Is it really that uncommon?"

"Around here, definitely," Kendall nodded. He turned to Jason and waved his hand in front of his friend's face. "Bud? You okay?"

"Yeah fine," Jason rushed out, blushing slightly as he finally closed his mouth.

I felt my cheeks heat up and averted my eyes from his gaze, focusing instead on the menu before me. Talk about awkward.

"I'll be right back," I excused myself, standing up and pulling my jacket tighter around me as Jason's eyes raked over my body. "If Antoine comes back, I'm having that," I smiled at Kendall, pointing to my selection and avoiding meeting Jason's gaze.

"Got it," Kendall smiled back at me, his eyes searching mine for a meaning for my abrupt departure.

"Be right back," I repeated again, scampering off before any questions were asked. I made my way to the bathroom in the restaurant and closed the door behind me quickly, falling against it and sighing. I slipped my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through to Maria's number subconsciously, thoughts racing.

She picked up on the fourth ring. "Hello?"

"Help."

"What happened?"

"I don't know I don't know I don't know," I rushed out, beginning to pace back and forth across the tiled floor.

"Hon, breathe. Tell me what happened."

"We came out to lunch and I think Kendall likes me but then I spoke in French and I think I turned Jason on and he was kinda sorta eye raping me and I don't even know them and Ri I need help!"

"Okay okay, let's just think," Maria spoke slowly, trying to calm me down. "He's a guy, he's going to think it's hot, right? That doesn't mean anything, though. It's just a turn on!"

"But I'm not ready to date," I whined, beginning to nibble at my nails. "I'm so scared, Maria, this was a terrible decision."

"No, no it wasn't," my best friend insisted over the phone. "It's a great chance to start over and you're going to do just that. If he asks you out on a date, go for it! It's time to try something new!"

"What would Brae have said?"

"He would have threatened to kill him," Maria chuckled softly. "But he'd also want you to go out and have fun. To live."

"So if he does...?"

"I say go for it, kid."

"Okay, Ri," I sighed out. "I'm trusting you on this!"

"Good! Now go back out there and enjoy yourself. Don't overthink everything, darling."

"Thanks, love. Call you later."

I hung up and put my phone back in my pocket, grateful to have such a great support system in my best friend. Splashing some water on my face, I allowed myself to cool down before fixing my makeup and making my way back out to the two men.

Everything will be just fine, I reminded myself. Just breathe.


End file.
